Lost Twins
by RedbirdWalker
Summary: Just before Harry's second year, Snape discovers that he has two, twin daughters. How will the world respond to Snape's daughters? Will they be in Slytherin or will they be in the same house as their new friends?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! For those of you who haven't guessed, I've been taking a little hiatus from writing—RL really sucks sometimes, and I'm stuck in regards to My Past, Your Future. The good news is that my cousin writes too, and I've decided to let her borrow my account for a while. Lilea's a middle-schooler, and this is her first fic, so be gentle—or else! No flames, please.**

**—Redbird signing out.**

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**Lost Twins**

**Chapter 1:**

Severus Snape still could not make his mind work no matter how hard he tried. He was pacing the length of his office in front of the unwelcome visitor who had just arrived. "So, please tell me … Why are you here?"

The lawyer sighed "I am here to discuss your daughters Claudia and Donatella Snape."

"_**Daughters?"**_

"Yes, twins. As I was saying, their great-great Aunt Antoinette Malfoy died leaving you their only remaining guardian, Professor Snape." The lawyer repeated shuffling the documents before placing them in his briefcase. "Honestly, they likely should have been in your custody to begin with, but Lady Malfoy has always been...eccentric...and felt that she would do a much better job of caring for two girls than you. Let us hope you can prove her wrong. Good day, Professor Snape."

After the lawyer had left, Severus collapsed in the chair behind his desk. He still couldn't believe it.

Serena had vanished during the most violent portion of the war. She had been terrified she would be targeted because of her husband's status as double-agent, and her cousin Lucius' position as the Dark Lord's right hand man. This, combined with a natural frailty and poor health, had been incentive enough to leave and retreat to her great-aunt's home in France. Antoinette had never had the highest opinion of her darling niece's husband, so (according to the lawyer's explanation) when Serena had died in childbirth the old crone had taken it upon herself to raise the twins alone, without ever notifying the girls' father of their birth.

Severus had honestly thought that his wife had been killed before ever reaching France, and he felt an aggravated resentment toward the old woman. He had once enjoyed the idea of having his own children, and Serena had always wanted a daughter. But now… How was he supposed to raise and care for two teenage girls? Severus placed his head in his hands, obviously in deep thought.

**LTSSLT**

"Well… this is where you'll be sleeping until term starts. So goodnight then." They had just arrived that evening and Severus was showing the girls their quarters.

There was a hallway behind the potions dungeon that led to a living room, dining room, and two bedrooms. The girls had requested staying together so their rooms consisted of a bedroom with two beds and two separate bathrooms.

"Goodnight." The girls chorused back. They weren't sure what to think of him at first, but from what Aunt Antoinette told them they knew that he was a great man. But, for now, they were just glad to finally have a real family.

They sat thinking for a moment about what had happened before Donatella broke the silence. "He's seems nice enough, huh Claude?"

Claudia was too immersed in her own thoughts to complain about being called her hated nickname. Finally she said, "Maybe, _Donatella_."

"Humph!" Donatella, most preferably called Lily, glared at her sister before breaking into a wide smile. "Goodnight to you too!" and she climbed into bed after her sister as the lights went out.

The girls woke up the next morning and went into the dining room to find their new father sitting at the table just starting breakfast. He looked up to find them entering the room. "Good morning. Why don't you have a seat?" they sat down at their places and food suddenly appeared on the golden plates. "Did you to sleep well last night?"

"Yes, Pere" they both said.

On seeing his raised eyebrow, the girls grinned. "Do you know French?" Lily asked.

"A little," he replied.

They sat eating for a couple of minutes before Claudia asked him, "What's it like at Hogwarts?"

"You'll soon find out, though I think you'll like it."

"Did you really work for—"

"Dumbledore _and_ You- Know- who?" Claudia ended for her sister.

"Yes."

"Why?" they both asked together.

"I was a spy for the Dark Lord. I joined the Death Eaters because they offered me acceptance. Of course I never went on raids though. I hate the thought of killing people. The Dark Lord just used me for my potions skills."

"Cool! Are you—"

"Good at potions then?"

"Slightly." Severus replied, inwardly smiling at their curiosity.

After they finished their meal, Severus decided to introduce them to the teachers. He sighed; people so far have thought that the thought of him being a parent was weird. Even Lucius.

He walked with them towards McGonagall first. "Hello, Minerva. These are my daughters, Lily and Claudia. Lily, Claudia, this is Professor Minerva McGonagall."

Claudia stuck out her hand and said "Nice to meet you," but Lily peered from behind Severus shyly and said a polite "hello."

Severus sighed, once again. He didn't do shy kids well. Minerva had looked shock upon being introduced to the two girls. Oh, well.

Lily saw that Professor McGonagall was very strict when Severus introduced them. "Hello," she said politely. She had noticed that being quiet and polite boded well with teachers. Then she felt herself being steered to yet another Professor, only after hearing Severus sigh.

Professor Flitwick seemed nice enough to her. She still answered in the same tone, but Claudia, the annoying out going one. Started chatting about Charms with him nonstop. Claudia was talking so fast that Lily couldn't ask the Professor a single question. She liked being around her sister, but sometimes she got annoying.

Claudia bounced forward to meet the next teacher. This one, who Severus had introduced as Professor Sprout, seemed nice.

"Yes, I teach Herbology," the woman was saying.

"I'm Claudia, and this is Lily!" Claudia said. She liked making new friends.

**LTSSLT**

The girls were introduced to each individual teacher. After they returned to their rooms, Severus slunk off to brew potions for the school year, so the girls entertained themselves by exploring the castle. When they returned, they managed to drag Severus out of the Dungeons so that they could at least talk with him. All in all the girls spent a lot of time with their new father, and soon discovered that life at Hogwarts could be very interesting (if you could count Peeves bobbing along behind you chanting about greasy haired toads; whatever that was about.)

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**—y'ello everyone! Lilea here. I finally convinced Redbird to let me upload a fanfic on her page! So excited! Hope you like my story. I know it's a little rough; it was the first one I ever did. Yes that does mean that I've done other fanfics but I probably won't have those uploaded until I finish this one. He he he! I luuv suspense!**

**P.S. ***** means change of POV, and LTSSLT means a skip in time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Harry Potter**

Severus and the girls had been planning to go to Diagon Alley at the end of the month to buy school supplies. It was only a week away at the time, and the twins had been looking forward to seeing what Hogwarts had for them to learn. They already had wands though because their Aunt Antoinette had homeschooled them in France last year.

They flooed over to Madam Malkin's to buy their school robes. Which they thought were slightly dreary compared to what they wore last year (considering that the Hogwarts robes were black.) They headed to other shops to buy school supplies for the year.

Then they went to Flourish and Blotts to get second year books. What they found there was a huge crowd jostling to get in. Lily had never really liked big crowds so she followed her sister in with Snape following up the rear. On the window of the shop was a large banner explaining the reason for the crowd:

GILDEROY LOCKHART

Will be signing copies of his autobiography

_MAGICAL ME_

Today 12:30 to 4:30

Severus sighed as he pushed the girls into the shop. He helped them grab the books they needed and got in line. As they got to the front they bought their books and then, before they were about to head out of the shop they heard a loud shout, "It _can't_ be Harry Potter?" they turned around to see Lockhart grab a black haired boy, who looked about their age, out of the crowd. Harry did not look very happy as Lockhart shook him and announced that he would be coming to teach at Hogwarts and then handed Harry all of his books for free. Once Harry was let go he walked close to where they were standing and dropped his books into a red headed girl's cauldron.

Claudia walked up to Harry, eager to meet someone their age and said, "Hello, I'm Claudia, and this is my sister Donatella" but after the glare she received from her sister she added, "er— Lily."

"We're coming to Hogwarts this year!" Lily told him.

Harry was about to say something to the before he was cut off by a pale blonde haired boy. "Bet you loved that, didn't you Potter? Famous Harry Potter, can't even go to the bookstore without making the front page."

"He didn't want that! Any decent person wouldn't." Claudia said. She looked at him and got the impression of a very spoiled banana. She could also tell that he was resentful of Harry.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"Claudia Snape. You?"

"Draco Malfoy."

She turned around to Severus (who neither Draco nor Harry had noticed was there) and exclaimed, "_This_ is Draco Malfoy? … I _don't_ like him."

Harry raised an eyebrow as Snape said to the twins through his teeth, "I told you to be nice to him." Snape had daughters? He obviously didn't last year. He looked around him to see that Hermione, Ron, and the Weasley twins were gaping at them, apparently just as surprised as he was.

Malfoy's father walked up to Snape and gave a respectful nod. "Severus. I see you have your daughters here as well. Come Draco." And they left the shop heading down the road.

"Claudia, Lily, these are my friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."

"Hello, Ron and Hermione." Lily greeted them, "I'm so glad to meet more people from Hogwarts! What year are you in?"

"Second." Hermione answered, the other two nodding.

"Cool." Claudia the one who spoke now, "We are going to be second years too."

"Ladies, I should think that it is time to go now." Severus said steering them towards the door, shooting a glare in Harry's direction.

"See you at school!" Claudia and Lily called behind them, leaving a still slightly confused Harry. And you know? Claudia thought that she rather liked that Harry Potter.

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**Hey all! Just to let you know, I do know that my first chapters are very short, but they get longer as the plot increases. :} evil grin! I'm going to be a bit busy over the holidays, so I might not be able to update for another week if I can't get online.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello all! I've got a new chappie for you! I bet that half of you will be able to guess what house they are sorted into. Please review! I would love for you to tell me if there's anything wrong with the grammar or spelling. I'm still a little new to this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the name Snape. I do, however, own Claudia and Lily (somewhat)**

**Chapter 3:**

The twins were so excited as, finally, the first day of school arrived. They spent the whole day speculating what the year would be like and what they would learn, until evening came. They watched as they saw students arriving on carriages that were being pulled by strange looking creatures. Then they went down to where the first years were gathered. Professor Dumbledore had already decided that they were to be sorted just after the first years.

They were both secretly wishing to be in the same house Harry and his friends were in, though they didn't know which one that was. After a couple of minutes Professor McGonagall came up and took the first years into the Great Hall with the twins not far behind.

On top of a stool was a frayed old hat. They knew that this could only be the Sorting Hat. It sang a song about the four houses then McGonagall began calling out students to put on the hat and be sorted.

Finally after all of the first years were sorted Dumbledore stood up and announced, "This year we also have two new students from France who, after they are sorted, will be joining the second years."

"Snape, Claudia."

"Oh no!" Claudia whispered, as she walked up to the stool and sat down on it. She precariously placed the hat on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Claudia released her breath and ran over to the Gryffindor table.

"Snape, Lily" Lily placed the hat on her head repeating the word Gryffindor silently.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled after a momentary pause. She scurried over and sat next to Claudia, who was already talking to Hermione.

"Have you seen Harry or Ron?" Hermione was asking Claudia.

"No" Claudia replied, but Lily knew more.

"Papa's not in his seat." Lily said.

"And?" Claudia asked.

"I heard that he was looking for them."

"_I_ heard that a couple of people saw them in a _flying car_, crashing onto the front lawn." A boy who was sitting near them whispered.

"Who was that?" Claudia and Lily asked Hermione.

"Seamus," she relied distractedly, "I sure hope that that's not true. They could get expelled for that."

Severus was searching for the boys with glee. This could be the year that he got the Potter boy expelled. He was about to go back into the Great Hall when he heard voices.

"Hang on…" that voice sounded like Potter's, "There's an empty chair at the staff table… Where's Snape?"

"Maybe he's ill!" he heard Weasley suggest hopefully as he silently went and stood right behind them.

"Maybe he's left, because he missed out on Defense Against the Dark Arts job again!"

"Or maybe he might have been sacked!" Weasley exclaimed enthusiastically, "I mean everyone hates him—"

"Or maybe," Severus said his voice as cold as ice, "he's waiting to hear to hear why you two didn't arrive on the train." The two boys spun around to see him with a triumphant look on his face.

The girls ate dinner with a watchful eye, and soon Severus reentered the Great Hall and took McGonagall and Dumbledore out with him. Dumbledore returned ten minutes later to announce the end of the feast. By this time rumors were flying throughout Gryffindor about Harry Potter and his friend being expelled for crashing a flying car into the whomping willow.

Once they returned to the Gryffindor common room, the Weasley twins told everyone to stay up and wait for Harry and Ron to return, to much protest from the prefect, Percy. After fifteen minutes the fat lady's portrait opened to reveal Harry and Ron in front of a slightly steaming Hermione.

The Weasley twins grabbed hold of the two boys and everyone started clapping them on the back. "Brilliant!" a boy with dreadlocks shouted over the uproar of clapping students, "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people will be talking about that one for years—"

"Great going!" Claudia called out.

"Wow!" Lily exclaimed.

The grins slid off of their faces as they looked over the crowd. "Got to get upstairs" Ron said, "bit tired." Claudia and Lily turned to see Percy and Hermione scowling at them.

"'Night," Harry called back to the girls.

As soon as they left the room the crowd started dispersing along with shouts of, "Go on! You should've been in bed an hour ago!" from Percy.

"Come on," Hermione turned to the twins, "Our dormitory is this way." Lily and Claudia followed her to the left and up a spiral staircase into a room that said, "Second Years."

"I can't be_lieve_ them!" Hermione exclaimed as she sunk into her bed.

"I sure they had a good reason for it." A girl named Lavender Brown said.

"Harry doesn't really seem the type to show off like that," Claudia added.

"Yeah, what if they couldn't get to the train!" Lily said thoughtfully.

"Then, they should've sent an owl to Professor Dumbledore." Hermione said sticking her nose in the air, "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed!" and she pulled up the covers over her head.

"Oh, well—"

"We tried." And the rest of the girls got into bed as well.

LTSSLT

The next morning the Gryffindor girls went down to breakfast. Harry and Ron had already been there and they sat down next to them.

"Morning." She said stiffly, not having yet approved of what the boys had done. They started eating and after a few minutes they heard rustling overhead.

About a hundred owls were swooping in and delivering letters and packages onto the students. Soon a large, gray thing fell into Hermione's jug, spraying them all with milk and feathers.

"_Errol!_" Ron exclaimed pulling out a rather pathetic looking owl by the feet. Errol passed out on the table with his legs sticking up and a large red envelope clutched in his beak.

"Oh, no!" Ron gasped.

"It's all right he's still alive," Hermione said, prodding Errol gently with her finger.

"No, it's not that. It's _that_." Ron pointed to the letter and Claudia and Lily, who just noticed what it was, gasped and backed away slightly.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

"She's— She's sent me a Howler." Ron choked out.

"You'd better open it," Neville whispered timidly, "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once I ignored it and," –he gulped—"it was horrible."

They all stared down at it and it had begun smoking at the corners. Sensing the danger coming Lily said to Ron, "You'd better open it. It'll all be over in few minutes." She, Claudia, and Neville stuffed their fingers in their ears as Ron stretched out a shaky hand and split it open.

"_**RONALD WEASLEY!"**_the entire Great Hall jumped at the voice that blasted out of the letter, _**"HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY HAD**__**EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET A HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW THAT THE CAR HAD GONE—"**_

Everyone swiveled in their chairs to look at Ron, who had sunk so low in his seat, all you could see of him was his crimson forehead.

"—_**LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGH YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD HAVE BOTHDIED! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISCUSTED—YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!"**_

"_**Oh, and Ginny dear, congratulations at making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud!"**_

A ringing silence fell as the letter burst into flames. Harry and Ron sat stunned and after a couple of moments a couple people laughed and talk broke out again.

Hermione put down her copy of _Voyages with Vampires_ and looked at the top of Ron's head.

"Well, I don't know what you expected Ron, but—"

"Don't tell me I deserved it!" he snapped. The twins looked up and saw Professor McGonagall walking towards them with schedules.

After they received their schedules, they headed off to double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. As they neared the greenhouses they soon saw the class waiting outside on Professor Sprout.

A curly haired Hufflepuff boy walked over to them, "Justin Finch-Fletchley," he said brightly shaking Harry's hand, "Know who you are, of course, the famous Harry Potter... And you're Hermione Granger; always top in everything— Ron Weasley. Wasn't that your flying car?" Ron didn't smile. The Howler was obviously still on his mind, "And you two are the Snape twins right? I saw you getting sorted. I was surprised. Professor Snape certainly didn't have daughters last year. Plus you're in his rival house! I'm sure everyone got a kick out of that… That Lockhart's something isn't he? It's so wonderful here! My name was down for Eton you know. Of course mother was disappointed, but after I showed her Lockhart's books I think she's begun to see how useful it is to have a wizard in the family…"

Claudia looked up and saw Professor Sprout striding across the lawn with bandages in her arms and Lockhart trailing not far from her. She was squat witch with flyaway hair and dirt smudged all over her. Lockhart however, was wearing sweeping turquoise robes, his golden hair shining under a perfectly position turquoise hat.

"Oh, hello there!" he called, beaming at the students gathered around the greenhouses. "I've just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't you running away with the thought that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happened to meet several of these exotic plants on my travels…"

"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" said Professor Sprout, who was looking slightly disgruntled and not at all her usually cheerful self.

Just after almost everyone had entered, Lockhart shot his hand out blocking Harry from entering. "Harry! I've been wanting a word— you don't mind if he's a couple minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?" and the greenhouse door shut behind them.

Professor Sprout scowled and watched their silhouetted forms walk away some and began holding a conversation. After a couple of minutes Lockhart walked off and Harry sidled in the door. Once Harry took his place among their little gang, she said, "We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who here can tell me the properties of a Mandrake?"

Hermione's hand shot up into the air before anyone else's. "Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Hermione, sounding as though she had swallowed the text book. "It is used to return those who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

This all sounded very familiar as Mandrakes were the last thing they had read over, last year back in France, before summer break had started. Claudia made a face. Then, of course they never got to actually do stuff with Mandrakes. Finch-Fletchley was right, Hogwarts was amazing.

"—Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Sprout was saying as Claudia snapped back to attention. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

Hermione's hand shot up again, narrowly missing Harry's glasses. "The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it."

"Precisely. Take another ten points," said Professor Sprout, "Now, the Mandrakes we have here are very young."

She indicated at a row of deep trays and everyone shifted closer for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little purplish green plants were growing there in rows.

"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs," Professor Sprout commanded the class.

There was a scramble as everyone tried to grab a pair of earmuffs that weren't pink and fluffy.

"When I tell you to put them on make sure your ears are completely covered. When it is safe to remove them, I will give you a thumbs-up. Right—earmuffs _on_."

Lily snapped her earmuffs on over her ears. She was surprised to discover that they shut out the sound completely. Professor Sprout put on her own pink and fluffy earmuffs, rolled up her sleeves, grasped one of the plants, and pulled hard.

Lily smiled excitedly as what she saw was exactly like the picture of a Mandrake that was in her old Herbology book. Instead of roots, a small, muddy, extremely ugly baby was pulled out of the earth. He had pale, mottled green skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs.

Professor Sprout took a large pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in the dark soil until only the tufted leaves were visible. Then, Professor Sprout dusted off her hands, and gave them thumbs up as she removed her own earmuffs.

"As our Mandrakes are just seedlings, their cries won't kill yet. However, they will knock you out for several hours, and I'm sure none of you would want to miss your first day back so make sure that your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up.

"Four to a tray—there's a large supply of pots over here—compost sacks over there—and be careful of the Venomous Tantactula, it's teething."

Every one split up into groups of four. Ron, Harry, Claudia and Hermione were together at one tray and Lily was in between Neville Longbottom and Justin Finch-Fletchley.

"Hi!" Lily exclaimed turning to Neville, "You're Neville Longbottom right? My name is Lily."

"H-hi Lily." He said nervously looking at her like she might bite off his hand.

"We got to cover Mandrakes last year back in France but we didn't actually get to do stuff with them. We just read over the chapter that talked about them…"

Soon they had to stop talking to work. Lily had trouble pulling her Mandrake out, seeing as they obviously didn't want to come out of the earth. It took her about ten minutes trying to pull it out until she finally gave up and pulled out her wand to levitate it into the other pot. She looked over at Neville while she was pouring dirt in and saw that he had already gotten his Mandrake in the other pot and was getting a new one. Then her eyes moved to Harry, who was trying to squash a particularly fat one into a pot, then finally Claudia who was getting bitten by her own Mandrake.

By the time class ended, everyone was sweaty, aching, and covered in dirt. They barely had time to return to the castle and shower off before they had to go to Transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall started the lesson out with a lecture that it was no longer summer and after that she gave the class beetles to turn into buttons. Lily attempted to cast the spell on the beetle, but it scuttled around causing her to leave black smudges on the desk from where the spell hit. Then she grabbed her Lockhart books and stack them on her desk in a u-shape, cornering the beetle. After a little while, all she had was a button with horns, eyes, and six stubby little legs.

Ron's wand had evidently broken last night because when he tried to cast a spell, it engulfed him in a thick, green smoke that smelled of rotten eggs. Also it kept crackling and shooting off sparks at odd moments.

When the lunch bell rang, Lily stuffed her squirming, half transfigured buttons into her pocket and followed Claudia and Hermione down to lunch. As soon as the boys caught up with them, Hermione showed a handful of perfect buttons. Lily pulled hers out to show Hermione.

"Did you wave your wand right?" Hermione asked.

"Like this?" Lily simply waved her wand the way she had been.

"No," Hermione replied, "You're not using enough wrist." Hermione went on showing Lily the proper way and after they all finished eating lunch they headed outside.

"What have we got this afternoon?" Ron asked.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione said at once.

Claudia glanced down and frowned, "_Why_ have you got all of Lockhart's lessons outlined in hearts?" Hermione pulled up her schedule blushing furiously. Then she pulled out _Voyages with Vampires_ and reburied her nose in it. Harry and Ron stood and argued about Quidditch, and Lily sat on the grass and closed her eyes. Claudia, however remained standing and grazed her eyes over everyone in the courtyard.

Her eyes stopped on a small mousy haired boy who was staring open mouthed at them, or rather, Harry. He seemed to be clutching a Muggle camera and looked rather silly. She got the impression of a small, brown puppy dog when she looked at him. Claudia nudged Harry and when he looked up, the boy blushed bright red.

"All right Harry? My name is Colin Creevey," Colin said breathlessly, taking a tentative step forward, "I'm in Gryffindor too. D'you think— would it be all right if— can I have a picture?" he asked raising his camera hopefully.

"A picture?" Harry repeated sounding confused.

"To prove that I've met you. I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you got you've still got a lightning shaped scar on your forehead," (his eyes raked Harry's hairline) "and a boy told me that if I developed the film in the right potion, the pictures'll move." Colin shuddered in excitement, "It's _amazing_ here isn't it? I never knew that all the odd stuff I could do was magic before I got my letter. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him. And it'd be good if a had one of you"— he looked imploringly at Harry—"maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?"

"Signed photos? You're giving out _signed photos_, Potter?" Claudia glared as Draco's voice echoed the courtyard.

"_Detenir vous idiote!_ He is not!" She retorted, "Do _think_ he would be?"

Draco, unable to tell what she first said, scowled. "That's right, I'm not." Harry backed her up.

"Aunt Antoinette was right. British Malfoys aren't sophisticated. You're not even acting like a worthy Slytherin!" Claudia continued and the gaggle of Slytherins started snickering at Draco's beet red face, "Don't you remember the Slytherin motto? 'We bow to no one.' But during the war your family ran to the protection of your 'Master Voldemort.' _Hmph_. Come on Harry." And she practically dragged him away from Draco.

"But what about my picture?" Colin asked still following them.

"Later, Colin," Harry said, "In the common room."

They then slowly made their way towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The bell rang when they were in the corridor outside the room and they went in and took seats along the back row.

"Wow, Claudia. What was all that about?" Ron asked as the class started to fill in.

"Aunt Antoinette always talked of how the British Malfoys, aka Draco's family, brought shame to the Malfoy name." Lily answered him.

"So, I'm guessing your aunt was a Malfoy?"

"Yes, the Malfoys were originally French but some migrated over to Britain." Claudia said.

"Another sore spot in Malfoy history." Lily stated.

Soon after their conversation, the bell rang, signaling the start of class. Lockhart then walked into the room clearing his throat loudly. He picked up a copy of _Travels With Trolls_ and pointed at a picture of his face on the cover.

"Me," he said winking along with his portrait, "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of _Witch Weekly's_ Most-Charming-Smile-Award—but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

He waited for them to laugh only to have a few people smile weakly at him.

"I see you've all bought my complete works—well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about—just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in—"

He handed out the test papers and returned to his desk. "You have thirty minutes—start—now!"

They all looked down at their papers and Claudia sighed in exasperation.

"'_What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?_' What rubbish!" she said as she read the first question.

"There's not a single question in here about defensive spells! It's all questions about him…" Lily exclaimed, scanning through the quiz.

"Come on now, chop, chop! There's no time for chit-chat." Lockhart said looking at the back row.

The four were still whispering and Hermione was quickly writing down answers, occasionally shooting menacing glances at them.

After their thirty minutes were up, Lockhart took up the papers and rifled through them.

"Tut, tut. Hardy any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in _Year With The Yeti_. Also a few of you need to read _Wanderings with Werewolves _more carefully. I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples—though I wouldn't say no to a bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky."

He gave them another wink and the class was staring at him dumbfounded. Hermione, however was staring at him with rapt attention.

"… but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions. In fact," he flipped the paper over, "Full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"

Hermione nervously raised her hand, blushing.

Claudia made a face as Hermione blushed even harder as Lockhart praised her.

"Now—be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to mankind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. I ask you to remain calm. You must not scream," he said in a low voice, "It might provoke them."

He whipped off the cover revealing small, electric blue creatures with wings and cruel, pointed faces.

"Yes," he said dramatically, "_freshly caught Cornish Pixies_."

Seamus let out a loud snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.

"Yes?" Lockhart huffed.

"Well, they're not—they're not very _dangerous_ are they?" Seamus asked in between fits of giggles.

"Don't be so sure," Lockhart announced, waggling his finger in the boy's face. "They can be devilish tricky little blighters."

"Well, let's see how you make of them _now_!" and he opened the cage.

Instantly they shot out of the cage in every direction. They all jumped up and grabbed a book or something to swat the pixies with. Two pixies grabbed Neville by the ears, lifting him into the air. Lily aimed a good swat at several of them using her copy of _Year with the Yeti_. Claudia caught a couple upending the wastebasket. After only five minutes the pixies proceeded to make the room look as if it had been run over by a herd of mad, stampeding hippogriffs. Windows were broken, books were scattered about the floor, and Neville hung by his robes from the iron chandelier.

"Come on, round them up! They're only pixies!" Lockhart shouted as the class desperately failed at keeping the pixies at bay.

"Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" he bellowed, only to have nothing happen.

After a minute of standing with his wand stretched out, a pixies grabbed it and threw it out the window. Then the bell rang and all of the students rushed madly for the exit.

"I'll just ask you five to nip the rest of them back into their cage." Lockhart said faintly before rushing out of the room after the class.

"Can you _believe_ him!" Ron roared as a pixie bit him on the ear.

"He just want us to get some hands on experience," Hermione said defensively.

"_Hands on experience_?_"_ the twins exclaimed together.

"Hermione, he had no idea what he was doing." Harry said immobilizing a couple pixies and stuffing them in their cage.

"Rubbish," Hermione said breathlessly, "You've read his books—look at all of the amazing things he's done—"

"He _says_ he's done," Ron muttered.

LTSSLT

Classes started to go by quickly and the weekend was soon approaching. Ron's wand was not showing signs of improvement, having shot out of his hand in between Flitwick's eyes, leaving a large green boil. Harry was now trying to avoid Lockhart, which the girls figured was because of their conversation before Herbology. So, obviously, they were all looking forward to the weekend.

The twins and Hermione groggily went down to breakfast Saturday morning only to find Ron sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Quidditch practice." Ron said through a mouth of pancakes, showering the note from Harry in crumbs.

"Well, then let's bring breakfast down to watch him," Claudia reasoned.

"Yeah! I've never seen Quidditch before!" Lily exclaimed excitedly.

They made their way down to the Quidditch pitch and sat down on one of the rows. A good while later, the team emerged from the locker room.

"Aren't you done yet?" Ron shouted incredulously.

"Haven't even started! Wood's teaching us some new moves." Harry replied, staring bleary eyed at the food in their hands.

As they began to fly around the stadium, they heard Fred shout, "What's that funny clicking noise?"

Claudia was about ready to smack her face as she saw Colin Creevey sitting in the top of the bleachers clicking away madly on his camera. After that they couldn't hear the team's conversation, but they saw George say something and point at the ground. As the rest of the team followed Wood to the ground, they saw small green figures walk onto the field.

"What are the Slytherins doing here?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, but it looks like trouble." Hermione said.

So they started making their way to the rivaling team's right outside the locker rooms.

"What's happening? Why aren't you playing? What's _he_ doing here?" Ron asked pointing at Malfoy.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley." Malfoy said smugly, "Everyone's just been admiring the new brooms my father bought the team."

Ron gaped at the Nimbus 2001's that were resting on each on the team members shoulders.

"Good, aren't they? I suppose that your team will be able to scrape up some gold to buy new brooms too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them." The Slytherin team howled with laughter.

"Well, at least no one on the Gryffindor team had to_ buy_ their way in," Hermione replied sharply, "_They_ got in on pure talent."

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," Malfoy spat.

Several things happened that confused Harry. Alicia shouted "How dare you!" Flint had to spread his arms out in front of Malfoy to keep Fred and George from jumping on him. Lily swore very loudly in French. Hermione had to put her arm in front of Ron to keep him from jinxing Malfoy, and Claudia stepped forward, her eyes flashing dangerously.

She flicked her wand sending Flint out of between her and Malfoy and advanced upon him. Every trace of smugness left Malfoys face as he inched back.

Recovering his dignity, he said, "Come on guys, let's not fool with these Gryffindors."

"Thank, you." Claudia said sweetly, "but if you ever insult my friends again, I won't let you slither away like a coward." Then she turned around all trace of anger gone and handed Harry his breakfast.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Halloween**

After Quidditch practice was over, they decided to go visit Hagrid. They knocked on the door to his cabin to receive loud, enthusiastic barks from Fang.

"I was wonderin' when yeh would come ter' see me," he said, shoving Fang aside to let them in. They all sat at the table and were handed mugs of tea. Then Hagrid noticed the twins. "And yuh're the Snape twins right?" he asked with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"Yes," they said together.

He nodded and then said, "C'mon you lot. I've got something ter show yeh."

They followed him to his pumpkin patch where there were a dozen pumpkins, the size of large boulders.

"Gettin' along well aren't they? They're fer Halloween—should be big enough by then…" he said proudly.

"How big are you wanting them?" Lily asked, seeing that the pumpkins were already huge.

"I dunno, they look real impressive when they're the size o' a shed"

Harry whistled and then asked, "What have you been feeding them?"

"Oh, I've uh been givin' them some help…" he said uncomfortably.

"An engorgement charm I suppose?" Hermione asked, receiving a nod, "Well you've done a good job on them."

"That's what yuh're sister said," he stated pointing at Ron, "She came round by the house lookin' fer someone n' I'd say that she would say no to a signed photo," He said a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Oh, shut up." Harry said, turning red. Ron snorted with laughter.

They said goodbye to Hagrid and headed up to the castle for lunch. They had barely set foot in the building when a voice rang out, "Oh, there you are Potter—Weasley." Professor McGonagall was walking towards them looking stern. "You will both do your detentions this evening."

"What will we be doing?" Harry asked nervously.

"You, Potter, will helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail,"

"Oh no—Professor can't I do anything else?"

"Certainly not. You, Weasley, will be polishing the silver in the trophy room with Mr. Filch. No magic." Ron gulped. Filch always creeped him out.

After that they went to dinner and Harry enjoyed his shepherd's pie a lot less than he had expected. Both boys thought that they got the worse end of the deal, so they all ate in silence.

"Filch will have me there all night," Ron groaned, "No magic! There must be a hundred trophies in that room. I'm no good at muggle cleaning."

"I've had plenty of practice with the Dursleys, I'd swap anytime. Answering Lockhart's fan mail... He'll be a nightmare…" Harry replied hollowly.

When it was finally time for their detentions, Harry gritted his teeth and knocked on Lockhart's door.

"Ah, here's the scalawag!" Lockhart announced throwing the door open.

A pile of shining pictures of Lockhart were on his desk.

"You'll be helping me with my fan mail. You can address the envelopes!" He told Harry as if he was getting a big treat. "This first one's to Gladys Gudgeon—bless her—she's a huge fan of mine…"

Minutes crept by slowly and Harry did his best to ignore Lockhart's occasional comments. Things like, "Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that."

It seemed like days went by, and the room gradually grew darker and the candles grew shorter. Harry moved his hand over what seemed like the thousandth envelope, writing out Veronica Smethley's address. _I must be close to time to leave, _Harry thought miserably,_ please let it be time to leave…_

Suddenly, he heard something. It was nothing at all like the spitting of dying candles or the droning of Lockhart's voice. It was an ice-cold, raspy voice.

"_Come… come to me… Let me rip you… let me tear you…Let me kill you…"_

Harry nearly jumped out of his skin, leaving a huge lilac blot on Veronica Smethley's street.

"_What?_" he said loudly.

"I know!" said Lockhart, "Six solid months at the top of the best-seller list! Broke all records!"

"No," Harry replied frantically, "That—that voice—did—didn't you hear it?"

"Voice?" Lockhart started looking confused, "What are you talking about Harry? I think you must be getting a bit drowsy. Great Scott—look at the time! We've been here for nearly four hours—Time flies doesn't it; when one's having fun."

Harry didn't answer. He strained his ears trying to hear it again, but all he could hear was Lockhart dismissing him.

In a daze, Harry left Lockhart's office and headed to the common room. It was so late, that no one was there. Harry went straight up to the dormitory, pulled on his pajamas, and waited for Ron. Half an hour later, Ron showed up smelling strongly of polish.

"My muscles have all seized up." He groaned, "Fourteen times he made me buff that Quidditch Trophy. Then his stupid cat coughed up slime all over a Special Award for Services to the School. Took ages to clean it… Next time you see that cat can you kick it for me?" Harry grinned, "Anyway, how was it with Lockhart?"

Keeping his voice low, he told Ron exactly what happened.

"And Lockhart said that he couldn't hear it?" Ron asked, his face shadowed by the moonlight. "I don't get it… Even someone invisible would've had to open the door…"

"I know," Harry said lying on his bed staring at a spot on the canopy above him, "I don't get it either."

LTSSLT

Lily and Harry were sitting in Filch's office. Harry was caught dripping mud and to make things worse, on the way to his office, they caught Lily trying to kick Mrs. Norris (though she claimed that all he saw was her tripping over the cat and Harry agreed that it did just look like she was tripping.)

Filch was grinning maliciously at them, when suddenly they heard a crash.

"You stay right here!" he shouted and they heard him running down the hall, "PEEVES!"

Harry turned around and a piece of parchment caught his eye.

"Come on Harry, let's go," Lily tried to pull on his arm, but he picked up the parchment anyway.

"Kwikspell?" he muttered.

"What? Let me see that!" Lily snatched it from him. She rifled through the pages before saying to herself, "Filch is a squib? No wonder…"

Before Harry could ask what that was, Filch opened the door talking to Mrs. Norris. Instantly, his eyes fell on the parchment in Lily's hands.

His face turned brick red and his eyes were popping out. Harry and Lily backed away from the maddened man.

"GO!" he exclaimed and the two children darted out of his office and right through Nearly Headless Nick.

"Harry! Harry! Did it work?" the ghost asked.

The two could see a large black and gold cabinet, obviously dropped from a large height.

"That was you?" Lily asked.

"I persuaded Peeves to crash it right outside his office." Nick said eagerly.

"Thanks Nick! We didn't even get a detention!" Harry said gratefully before seeing the letter still in the ghost's hands. "I still wish there was something I could do for you."

"Actually there is Harry! This Halloween is my 500th deathday. Would you mind coming? All you have to do is to tell Sir Patrick how terrifying I am! You can bring Miss Snape and your other friends along as well."

"Um… okay." Harry said as Nearly Headless Nick beamed at him.

LTSSLT

By the time Halloween arrived, Harry was dreading ever agreeing to come to the deathday party. The rest of the school was happily anticipating the Halloween feast; the Great Hall had been decorated with the usual live bats, Hagrid's pumpkins had been carved into lanterns large enough for three grown men to sit in them, and there were rumors that Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons for entertainment.

"A promise is a promise," Hermione scolded Harry in a bossy manor. "You _said_ you'd go to the deathday party."

So at seven o' clock Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lily, and Claudia walked straight past the Great Hall, and instead headed for the dungeons. Ron had tried to opt out of it, but Hermione forced him to come, saying that it would be a great learning experience. That didn't really help matters, but Harry wouldn't let Ron leave him all alone in this matter.

The pathway to Nick's party was lit by candles. Not warm, merry candles like those for the Halloween Party, but they were long, jet-black candles, burning eerie blue flames. The temperature seemed to drop every step they took and Lily shivered and shrank into her robes as the candles cast ghostly light illuminating their pale faces. As they neared their destination, they heard a sound that could only be described as a thousand fingernails scraping an enormous blackboard.

"Is that supposed to be music?" Ron whispered. They turned a corner and saw Nearly Headless Nick standing in a doorway hung with black velvet drapes.

"My dear friends," he said mournfully. "Welcome, welcome… so pleased you could come…"

He swept off his plumed hat and ushered them inside.

It really was amazing sight. The dungeon was full of hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people, mostly drifting around a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the awful sound of thirty musical saws, played by an orchestra on a raised, black draped platform. Hanging above was a chandelier, which was blazing midnight-blue with a thousand more black candles. Their breath hung on the air before them; it was like stepping into the freezer.

"Shall we have a look around?" Harry suggested wanting to warm up his feet.

"Careful not to walk through anyone though," Claudia said nervously eying some of the ghost as they began to walk across the edge of the dance floor. They passed a gloomy group of nuns, a ragged man wearing chains, and the Fat Friar, the happy Hufflepuff ghost, who was talking to a knight with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. They weren't very surprised, however, to see that all of the ghosts gave the Bloody Baron, the gaunt, staring Slytherin ghost, a very wide berth.

"Oh, no," said Hermione, stopping abruptly. "Turn back, turn back, I don't want to talk to Moaning Myrtle—"

"Who?" Harry asked as they backtracked quickly.

"Moaning Myrtle," Claudia replied.

"She haunts a toilet in the girls' bathroom on the first floor," Lily said.

"She haunts a _toilet_?"

"Yes," Hermione answered, "It's been out of order all year because she keeps having tantrums and flooding the place. I never went in there anyway if I could help it; it's awful trying to have a pee with her wailing at you—"

"Look, food!" Ron exclaimed pointing at along table on the other side of the dungeon.

It was draped in black velvet and covered in, what they could see from that distance, large silver platters of food. They started forward eagerly but the next moment they stopped in their tracks, horrified. The smell was quite disgusting and Claudia was surprised they hadn't noticed it earlier.

There were large silver platters filled with rotting fish; burnt cakes; a great maggoty haggis; a slab of cheese covered in furry, green mold; and, in the centre of the table, was a humongous, grey cake, in the shape of a tombstone, with tar-like words that read;

SIR NICHOLAS DE MIMSY-PORPINGTON

DIED 31ST OCTOBER, 1492

Claudia watched, disgusted, as a portly ghost approached the table, crouched low, opened his mouth, and glided through the food as if he could taste it better that way.

"Can you taste it if you walk through it?" Harry asked.

"Almost," the ghost said wistfully.

"I expect they let it rot to give it a strong flavour," Hermione said, pinching her nose and peering at the putrid haggis.

"Can we move?" Ron asked, "I feel kind of sick."

They had barely moved, however, before Peeves swooped from under the table a halted before them.

"Hello, Peeves," Harry said cautiously.

Unlike the pale, colourless ghosts; Peeves was wearing a bright orange party hat, a revolving bowtie, and a wicked grin on his face.

"Nibbles?" he said sweetly, offering them a bowl of peanuts that had some sort of fungus growing on them.

"No thanks," Claudia said.

"Heard you talking about poor Myrtle," said Peeves, his eyes dancing. "_Rude_ you was about poor Myrtle." He took a deep breath and bellowed, "OI! MYRTLE!"

"Oh, no, Peeves. Please don't tell her what I said! She'll be so upset," Hermione whispered frantically. "I didn't mean it. I don't mind her—oh! Hello, Myrtle."

The squat ghost of a girl glided over. She had the glummest face the boys had ever seen, half hidden behind lank curtains of hair, framed by round, pearly spectacles.

"What?" she said sulkily.

"How are you Myrtle?" Hermione asked in a falsely bright. "It's so nice to see you out of the toilet, today."

Myrtle sniffed.

"Miss Granger was just talking about you," Peeves whispered slyly in her ear.

"Just saying—saying—how nice you look tonight." Hermione replied, aiming a glare at Peeves.

"You're making fun of me," Myrtle choked, great big tears welling up in her tiny, see-through eyes.

"No—honestly—didn't I just say how nice Myrtle's looking?" Hermione asked nudging Ron rather painfully in the ribs.

"Oh, yeah—"

"She did—"

"Mm—" the twins merely grunted.

"Don't lie me," Myrtle gasped, tears now flooding down her round face, while Peeves chucked happily over her shoulder. "D'you think I don't know what people call me? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!'

"You've forgotten pimply," Peeves hissed into her ear.

Myrtle burst into anguished sobs and fled from the dungeon. Peeves chased after her, pelting peanuts and saying, "_Pimply, pimply, pimply_!"

"Oh, dear," Hermione sighed.

Nearly Headless Nick drifted over toward them through the crowd.

"Enjoying yourselves?"

"Oh, yes," they lied.

"Not a bad turn out," he said proudly, "The Wailing Widow came up all the way from Kent… It's nearly time for my speech…I'd better go warn the orchestra"

The orchestra, however, had stopped playing and everyone stood in expectant silence. Suddenly everyone clapped and cheered as a hunting horn sounded.

"Oh, here we go again," Nick said bitterly.

Dozens of ghost horses, accompanied by their headless riders, jumped through the wall. The assembly once again clapped wildly.

The horses galloped into the middle of the room and halted, rearing and plunging. At the front of the pack was a ghost who held his bearded head by his side, from that position he was blowing a horn. He hopped off of his horse and lifted his head high so that he could see over the crowd. Then, he strode over to where they were standing and squashed his head back on his neck.

"Nick! Head still hanging there?" he asked jovially.

"Hello, Sir Patrick," Nick replied sullenly.

"Live 'uns!" Sir Patrick said, feigning surprise and giving a big leap, which caused his head to roll onto the ground.

"Very amusing," Nick said sourly as the entire crowd laughed.

"Don't mind Nick," the other ghost said, "He's just upset that he can't join the Headless Hunt!"

"I think he's very frightening—and, uh—" Harry began to stammer.

"I bet you he told you to say that!"

"If I could have everyone's attention," Nick said, "I would like to give my speech... My late lamented lords and ladies…"

But no one was listening anymore. Sir Patrick and the rest of the Headless Hunt had begun to play a game of Head Hockey and everyone had turned to watch. Nick tried to no avail to regain his audience's attention, but gave up as Patrick's head sailed by, followed by cheers.

"I can't stand much more of this," Ron said, his teeth chattering.

"Let's go," Harry agreed.

They back to the door, nodding and beaming at anyone who looked their way. Soon they were racing along the passageway full of dark candles.

"Pudding might not be finished yet," Ron said hopefully, leading the way to the steps of the Great Hall.

And the Harry heard it.

"…_rip…tear…kill…"_

It was the same voice, the same cold, murderous voice he had heard in Lockhart's office.

He stumbled to a halt, clutching at the ragged, stone wall, listening with all of his might, squinting down the dimly lit passageway.

"Harry, what are you—?" Claudia began.

"It's that voice again—shut up a minute—"

Ron shrugged as the girls looked inquisitively at him.

"…_soo hungry…for so long…"_

"Listen!" said hissed urgently, the others froze, watching him.

"…_kill…time to kill…"_

The voice was growing fainter. Harry was sure that it was moving away—moving upward. A mixture of fear and excitement flooded through him as he stared at the dark ceiling; how could it be moving upward? Was it a phantom, to whom ceilings don't matter?

"This way," he shouted, running up the stairs into the Entrance Hall. It was no good hearing anything here, the babble of talk from the Great Hall was echoing out into the corridor. Harry sprinted up the marble staircase to the first floor, the twins on his heels and Ron and Hermione not far behind.

"Harry what're we—"

"SHH!"

Harry strained his ears. Distantly, from the floor above, and growing fainter still, was the voice.

"…_I smell blood…I SMELL BLOOD!"_

His stomach lurched.

"It's going to kill someone!" Harry shouted, ignoring Ron and Hermione's bewildered faces, the look of concern on Claudia's, and Lily's look of pure fear. He ran up the next flight of steps, three at a time, and tried to hear over the pounding of his own feet.

He hurtled around the whole second floor, the other four panting behind him, not stopping until a corner into the last deserted passage.

"Harry, _what _was all of that about?" said Ron, wiping the sweat off of his face, "I didn't hear anything…"

But Hermione gave a sudden gasp and pointed down the corridor.

"_Look!"_

Something was reflecting off of the floor ahead. They approached slowly, squinting through the darkness. Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.

ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

"What's that thing—hanging underneath?" Lily asked with a slight quiver in her voice.

As they edged nearer, Harry almost slipped. There was a huge puddle at the foot of the wall that was steadily growing larger. Ron and Lily grabbed him, and they all inched forward, their eyes fixed on a dark shadow beneath the message. All five of them realized what it was and leapt back at once.

Mrs Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging by her tail form a torch bracket. She was as stiff as a board and her lamp-like eyes were wide and staring.

For a few seconds, they just stood there, staring at the cat, dumbfounded. Then Ron said, "Let's get out of here."

"Shouldn't we try to help?" Harry said helplessly.

"Trust me, we don't want to be caught here."

It was too late, though. A rumble, as distant as thunder told them that the feast had ended. From the end of the corridor where they stood, came the sound of hundreds of feet moving their way and the loud talk of well-fed children chattering happily. The next moment, students were crashing into the corridor from both ends.

The chatter, the bustle, and the noise died away as the people in front saw the hanging cat. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the twins stood alone in the middle of the corridor, as silence fell upon the mass of students pressing forward to see the ghastly sight.

Then, someone shouted through the quiet.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware? You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

It was Draco Malfoy. He had pushed to the front of the crowd, his cold eyes alive, his usually bloodless face flushed, as he grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile cat.

"What's going on here? What's going on?" Filch came elbowing through the crowd, attracted, no doubt, by Malfoy's shout. Then he saw Mrs Norris and fell back, clutching his face in horror.

"My cat! My cat! What happened to Mrs Norris?" he shrieked.

Then he pointed to the first person he saw (which just happened to be Lily) and his eyes popped.

"_You!"_ he screeched, "_You!_ You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you. I'll—"

"_Argus!_"

Dumbledore had arrived, followed by a number of other teachers. He swept straight past them and took the cat off of the bracket.

"Come with me Argus….you five as well," He said pointing at the five second years.

Lockhart stepped forward eagerly.

"My office is nearest, Headmaster—just upstairs—feel free to—"

"Thank you Gilderoy," Dumbledore replied curtly, cutting him off.

The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart hurried after Dumbledore, looking excited and important; so did Professors McGonagall and Snape. (Snape came along last, walking beside Lily, protecting her from the stares of other students as they walked by.)

As they entered Lockhart's office, there was a flurry of movement as several Lockharts in their pictures dove out of sight, their hair in rollers. The real Lockhart lit some candles on his desk and stepped back. Dumbledore laid Mrs Norris across the desk and began to examine her. The twins exchanged tense glances and remained standing, even though Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in chairs just outside of the candlelight.

The tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs Norris's fur. He was peering closely at her through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding her. Professor McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed. Severus loomed behind them, with his hands on Lily's shoulders, who was directly in front of him. He was standing half in shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression and shooting a sobbing Filch menacing glares. He looked as though he was refraining from bashing Filch's brains in. Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestive comments every now and then.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her—probably the Transmogrifian Torture—I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there. I know just the counter-curse that could have saved her…"

Lockhart's comments were punctuated by Filch's dry, racking sobs. He was sitting slumped in a chair, unable to look at Mrs Norris, with his face in his hands. Despite how much Filch annoyed Lily, she still couldn't help but feel sorry for him, though she was more scared for herself than anything. If Dumbledore believed Filch, she would be expelled for sure. She guessed that if she _was _expelled, that she could stay and help her father with work.

Dumbledore was now muttering a stream of words under his breath and tapping the cat with his wand, but nothing happened and she continued to look as if she had been recently stuffed.

"…I remember something like this happening before, in Ouagadougou," Lockhart said, still babbling on, "a series of attacks, the full story is in my autobiography, I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared up the matter at once…"

The pictures of Lockhart on the walls were nodding as he spoke. One of them had for gotten to remove his hair net.

At last Dumbledore straightened up.

"She's not dead, Argus," he said softly.

Lockhart stopped abruptly in counting the number of people he had saved.

"Not dead?" Filch choked, peering through his fingers to look at Mrs Norris, "But why's she all—stiff and frozen?"

"She had been petrified," Dumbledore said, ("Ah I thought so!" Lockhart exclaimed). "But how, I cannot say…"

"Ask _her_!" Filch exclaimed jumping up and turning back towards Lily.

She jumped and clutched Severus' arm, her face turning pale at the thought of being expelled. The others thought that the 'dungeon bat' looked quite odd with a small girl clinging onto him. What was even odder was that he didn't even seem fazed by this and instead glared at Filch. Professor McGonagall wondered how Filch was still accusing Lily; _she_ would have been running the opposite direction if that glare was focused on her.

Dumbledore, however smiled at Sever us before saying, "No second year magic could have done this. It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced—"

"She did it! She did it!" Filch spat, his face purpling as he hopped up and down in annoyance, "You saw what she wrote on the wall! She found—in my office…with Potter—she knows I'm a—I'm a—" Filch's face worked horribly, "She knows I'm a Squib!"

"_Filch!_" Severus barked, causing several of the second years there to jump, "You are accusing _my daughter_ here! I will not stand for it! I am sure that she and Mr Potter were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

"Rubbish!" Filch snarled, "They saw my Kwikspell letter! _She did it_!"

"How dare you… how _dare_ you!" Severus exclaimed, temporarily lost for words. "You _dare_ accuse _my daughter_!" he hissed, drawing his wand.

"Severus!" McGonagall groaned and grabbed his arm. "He has a right to suspect them…I don't believe she did it but, evidence is against her…I for one, don't recall her or her friends at dinner."

"We were at—" Harry started, but was cut off by their head of house.

"I'm not saying that you didn't have a good reason," she said kindly. "I'm just trying to show him that people can be mistaken!" she turned to Severus as she added the last part, practically hissing at him.

He ripped his arm out of her grip, put his wand away, and stepped back, shoving Lily behind him.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Argus," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.

Severus smirked, satisfied that Dumbledore didn't believe Filch. Filch, however, looked furious.

"My cat has been Petrified!" he shrieked, his eyes popping, "I want to see some _punishment_!"

"We will be able to cure her," the headmaster replied, still managing to keep calm. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs Norris."

"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in, "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up the Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep—"

"Excuse me," Severus replied icily, "but I believe that _I_ am the Potions master at this school."

There was a very awkward pause.

"You may go," Dumbledore said to the five second years.

Claudia narrowed her eyes, something felt off about Dumbledore…Lockhart too. When she was up here, next to the defence professor, she got an impression of a fox from him…but, Dumbledore? She wasn't sure what she felt when she was near him. She glanced from him to Lily, who was still clinging onto Severus, to her new friends. They had hopped out of their chairs and were hurrying for the door. Harry hesitated and glanced back at Claudia, wondering why she or her sister hadn't moved. Then, he followed his friends as he saw Snape steer the two girls out of Lockhart's office and towards the dungeons. He was most likely wanting to question them about their evening. Harry hurried off to be questioned by Ron and Hermione on the voice he had heard.

LTSSLT

"What. Happened?" Severus asked sternly as the twins sat in a couple of chairs in their private dining room.

Instantly the two girls started jabbering so fast that he had to concentrate really hard to discern the plotline.

"Nick invited us—"

"to his death-day party!"

"It was cold!"

"All they had was rotten food!"

"Sir Patrick—it was just—"

"too much!"

"we left and—" when the twins realized what they were about to say, they abruptly fell silent.

"And?" Severus prodded, raising his eyebrow.

"We headed to the common room."

Lily was staring down at the table, but Claudia was lounging back in her chair and looking him in the eye. He resisted the urge to use Legilimency—they were acting very suspicious.

"You're lying," he said, observing how Lily glanced up at him as soon as he said that and Claudia sat up. "What are you hiding and why?"

The two girls exchanged another uneasy glance before Claudia gritted her teeth and said, "We were about to go and eat when Harry said—he said—"

"—He said that he heard a voice," Lily cut in. They both cringed at the fact of how crazy that made Harry sound.

"A voice," Severus repeated quietly.

"He heard it before!" Claudia exclaimed, attempting to back him up.

"In his detention with Lockhart," Lily added.

Severus nodded, "Do continue your enlightening story, my dears."

The two of them giggled, and then became serious as they continued their story.

"He was clutching the wall and hissing at us to shut up—"

"he obviously was trying to listen to something—"

"his face was all screwed up—"

When they saw that Severus obviously didn't believe them, Claudia said, "Look, I have this ability…Auntie Antoinette trained me to master it a little… I get impressions of people the first time I look them in the eye. Also, if I focus hard enough, I can tell some one's intent. Like I could tell that Malfoy wanted to torture Harry that day in Flourish and Blotts. But Harry—He really was frantic! He actually heard something! That's what scares me! He led us up two flights of stairs and then he said that it was going to kill someone. Right after that, we turned on that corridor with Mrs Norris."

Severus looked into those pale (almost purple) eyes. They were just like their mother's. He sighed and put his hands up to his temples. Harry had Lily Potter's eyes… But he looked like James! He wanted to believe that the boy was making it up to seek attention, but he could tell how sincere Claudia was. _Should I believe my instincts that say that Harry's a brat, or should I believe my daughter, who says that he's more like his mother?_ He thought.

"Why do you hate him so much?" Claudia asked quietly.

Severus gritted his teeth and looked away.

"Tell me!" she exclaimed. He glanced into those furious eyes, then he smiled. He had never won a fight when he had those eyes glaring at him.

"Potter Senior… we used to be enemies."

"He bullied you didn't he," Lily said.

He glared at her for a minute before nodding slowly. "Every time I look at Potter I see James' arrogant face," he said before grimacing. It sounded really childish once he actually said it out loud.

"But.. Harry has his mum's eyes… Did you know her?" Lily asked.

"Yes, we used to be friends…she was practically a polar opposite from James."

"Well, then it's easy!" Claudia exclaimed.

"What is?" he asked apprehensively.

"Getting over the trauma you obviously still have from James bullying you."

"I wasn't traumatized!" he shouted. The twins grinned.

"Just…when you look at him, pick out his mum's features." Claudia said.

Lily caught on and elaborated, "You have to admit that Harry's nice like his mum so that it will be easier to figure this out. You won't be able to protect him if you hate him."

Severus reasoned with that logic and finally had a change of heart. He'd forget about Potter…for now.

"Now," the twins asked in unison, wearing identical smirks.

"What do you think about the Chamber of Secrets. Do—"

"you think it's really been opened?"

* * *

**Sorry about the gap between chapters. We had Christmas, then we had to go out of town, and then I had a lock-in. To top that, part of my chapter had been deleted...I think so anyway. I could've sworn that I had gotten past the message on the wall. Anyway, for those of you that were confused about the spoiled banana thing, I explained it in this chapter. I figured you would want to know that Claudia has a special ability. Please review. Any suggestions and corrections are welcome! Ta, ta my good friends!**


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